Fox Cities police defend need for heavily armored truck

May 12, 2014

Excess military equipment

About 25,000 Caiman trucks were purchased by the U.S. military to transport troops and equipment in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Thousands now sit idle and are being offered to police agencies around the country. Agencies that have or will receive the trucks include Appleton-Outagamie County, Eau Claire, La Crosse, Neenah, Stevens Point and Brown, Door, Portage and Waupaca counties.

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Fox Cities police say they have encountered multiple situations involving gunfire or the threat of gunfire to warrant getting a heavily armored military surplus truck for protection.

On Friday, Neenah police took possession of a mine-resistant, ambush-protected Caiman MTV (multiterrain vehicle) that stands 11 feet high and weighs 37,000 pounds.

Appleton police and the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department also recently acquired a Caiman MTV.

Both trucks were free, except for transportation charges, through the U.S. Department of Defense’s excess property program.

Before police even climbed into the driver’s seat, people took to postcrescent.com and social media to criticize the militarization of police.

• “What weapons do civilians have that warrant the police having Army vehicles?” Lou McKellar asked.

Police say their need for armored vehicles is not only real but also growing.

During a 2011 shootout in Fond du Lac, police used armored vehicles to evacuate residents. The gunman, James Cruckson, killed one officer and shot another before he died by suicide.

Neenah police Capt. Tom Long said that in the past decade, Neenah has averaged between 52 and 54 high-risk incidents annually where an armored truck might be called out. He described high-risk incidents as homicides, armed robberies, barricaded gunmen, hostage situations, drug investigations, warrant executions and explosions.

Heavy armor

Neenah’s Caiman will replace the police department’s 1979 Peacekeeper, a lighter armored military surplus truck the department has used since 2000.

The Peacekeeper was deployed five or six times last year and has been called out three times this year, but police say the armor on the Peacekeeper is insufficient to stop bullets from high-powered rifles.

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The Caiman will offer better protection and peace of mind.

“Some of the high-powered rounds that have been used in incidents in and around the Fox Valley in the last few years probably would have penetrated our Peacekeeper,” Neenah Police Chief Kevin Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson acknowledges the Caiman is more truck than officers need and will result in ongoing operational and maintenance costs for city taxpayers. The alternatives, though, are either to upgrade the armor on the Peacekeeper or to buy a police-specific armored truck that costs $250,000 to $300,000, he said.

Accepting the Caiman for free, he said, is “the common-sense choice of those three options.”

Operating without an armored truck is not a realistic alternative, Wilkinson said.

“There are costs, but there are also costs for not getting it. That’s a cost I’m not willing to pay.”

Close calls

Police have found themselves in situations without adequate protection.

Wilkinson recalled a 1994 bank robbery shootout in Pewaukee in which officers used the blade of a snowplow for cover as they approached two heavily armed gunmen, James and Theodore Oswald, in a crashed van. Afterward, police tested the snowplow blade for protection.

“The bullets went right through,” Wilkinson said. “It looked good and it felt good, but it really wasn’t good protection.”

Closer to home, the Neenah SWAT team bailed out of the Peacekeeper and jumped behind a concrete wall during a standoff on U.S. 41 last August because of concerns the truck didn’t offer adequate protection from possible police sniper crossfire.

“You need to have something that you know is going to stop the bullets,” Wilkinson said. “You don’t want something that’s just going to stop some bullets.”

The Caiman’s armor will block .50-caliber bullets.

No weapons

Neenah police Lt. Jeff Malcore, team leader for the Neenah SWAT team, said armored vehicles like the Caiman function as a protective vest for police officers. The gun turret has been removed, and the truck’s not equipped with any weapons.

“We have no ability to shoot out of it,” Malcore said. “All it does is allow us to get from one place to another so we can deploy our people, or if there’s firing coming in, we can back up to a window or something to get people out.”

Wilkinson said the uproar over the use of military equipment by police is rooted more in perception than function.

He said the residents don’t appear to have an issue with other forms of officer protection: bulletproof vests and shields and ballistic door panels on squad cars. Armored trucks, though, convey a different feel.

“This bothers people because of the military look,” Wilkinson said.

Police have supporters in the armored truck debate.

“It’s already paid for by taxpayers,” Bill Schommer said on Facebook. “It’s not like it’s going to be on patrol like a squad car. If there is a volatile situation with firearms involved, it could easily save a police officer or citizen in a hostage situation.”